Even when standing on public sidewalks, photos of the windows and displays are prohibited.

The real reason for the outrage stemmed from mainland Chinese and foreign tourists being excluded from the photo ban.

The Wall Street Journal reported: "Why the company's security drew the line between local Hong Kongers and mainland tourists is not exactly clear, but some have speculated it has less to do with copyright infringement and more to with placating high-rollers from China."

Dolce & Gabbana apologized on its Facebook about the riot outside its flagship store saying "We will learn from the incident and listen to the views of people from different sectors."

Ironically this ban has caused a flood of pictures of the store surrounded by protesters to hit the internet.